2.  HOW THIS GOT STARTED: FLIP A CLASSROOM!
I had attended a workshop on "flipping your classroom".  I was so inspired that I've devoted this summer to setting up a such a class.  In a flipped classroom the students take notes and make outlines at home with the help of online videos (sort of like Khan Academy)!  This way the book reading, outlines, and explanation of those notes can be made available online for homework.  When the students come into the class, they have the background info and can get right into the practice under the watchful eye of the teacher.  My intentions of how my "flipped classroom" will work:

• An outline of the chapter is provided for the students.  This duty will be given over to the students as they get better at note-taking.
• An audio of the chapter being read is available online for my textbook.  This will help the students who are auditory learners or slow readers.  
• I am able to use Windows Movie Maker to create a YouTube video of the outline and add the audio track to it. *TIP -  Change the duration of the video to match the length of the audio.  Save as a wmv or avi file.  Upload to YouTube and you can embed your video anywhere! check out my outline and reading here!  Obviously, I need to work on the outline text. **NOTE - I use OpenOffice  as my office suite.  It is free and has the ability to create pdf files from the text documents.  Take a snapshot of the pdf file and paste into Microsoft Paint. This will convert your text file to a jpeg or ping file(picture) suitable for use on the Windows Movie Maker.  I am still working out the kinks here and will post as I work this out. 
• Why am I doing this?  Consider the advantage of having the students take your board notes with NO distractions!  No more "did everyone get this?", "Mrs. S, I can't write and listen to you at the same time!", or the inevitable disruptions from those who finished minutes ago.  Everyone is at their own pace!  They can pause the video and write their notes in their own sweet time.  They can read the book and follow along.  Class time becomes their practice time where you go about helping and they can collaborate with their peers!  Great, huh?
• My intention is to get it closer to Khan Academy!  I will keep you posted as I get better at this!